Arch construction



June 19, 1934;

H. A. F. ABT 1,963,060

ARCH cousmucwxon Filed Dec. 2 1, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v R a 1700 9715072 June 19, 1934.

Filed Dec. 24, 1930 H. A. F. ABT

ARCH CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 17612070 502": //uc;o a 345:

Patented June 19, .1934

' UNITED STATES PATENT. oFFIcE 1,963,060 ARCH CONSTRUCTION Hugo A. F. Abt, Elmhurst, Ill. Application December 24, 1930, Serial No. 504,574

4 c1eims. (01.108-23) 4 are important, as for instance, in garages, hanpearances,

gars, green-houses, manufacturing plants, bathhouses, shelters, pavilions, auditoriums, dance halls, etc.

Standard arches for building construction with their numerous advantages such as graceful apunobstructed headroom, less weight for the same'strength, etc), would supplant the ordinary trusses in many cases if the fabricating costs were not excessive. The beam\ arch of this invention solves this problem by eliminating errpensive lattice work and trussed and curved sections so as to provide a structure comparable in cost to an ordinary truss. 1

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a building, having its roof supported by arches constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing a' slightly modified form of arch.

Figure 3 is an elevation on a larger scale of one of the column members of the arch.

Figure 4 is an elevation of one of the beam members of the arch of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a similar view of one of the beam members of the arch ofFigure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the arches are composed of column members A and beam members B extending upwardly and inwardly toward each other from the opposite columns to a meeting point midway between said columns.

l flanges and the inner The columns A and beams B are all formed from standard rolled H or I-shaped sections and are connected or joined in any suitable manner, such as riveting, bolting, or welding.

Preferably the columns and beams will be made of H-sections although the ordinary structural shapes known as I-beams also may be employed.

The columns A have their webs slit longitudinally from their upper ends downwardly for an appreciable distance, as at 2, and have their inner flanges and the inner portion of their web paralleling the slit ,2 bent inwardly forming a section 3 of a knee C. I

The beam members B ofthe arch have their webs slit longitudinally from their outer ends which abut the columns A inwardly for an appre ciable distance, as at 4, and have their inner portion of their web parting the webs plied thereto.

, standardizing alleling the slit 4 bent inwardly forming a second section 5 of the knee C.

The abutting ends of the columns A and beams B are secured together by splice-plates 6 either by welding as shown at the right-hand side of Figure 1 or by riveting as shown at the left-hand side of the figure, and the knee sections 3 and 5 are similarly secured together by splice-plates '7. The slitting and bending of the columns and beams A and B, as above described, provide the as necessary section to take care of the moment at this point. 7

The beams B are joinedat their meeting point by splice-plates 8 either welded as shown at the right-hand side of the joint or riveted as shown at the left-hand side of the joint. 1

The knee portion of the arch may be and preferably is further reenforced and stiffened by a strut 9.

It will be understood that when desired the struts 9 may be omitted and a plate or plates may be used covering the opening caused by slitof the arch members. The plates may be either riveted or welded in position and may be stiffened in any usual manner, as desired.

The thrust of the arch may be resisted in the usual manner by the footings 10 or a tie 12 may be provided connecting the column bases and hidden below the fioor.

1n the arch construction of Figure, 2 the ridge or apex portion of the arch is slit to provide increased section. The remainder of this arch is of the same construction as that described above, therefore the same reference numerals are ap- In this modified form of arch the abutting ends of the beams B have their webs slit longitudinally from their abutting ends inwardly for an appreciable distance, as at 13, and have their inner flanges and the inner portion of their web paralleling the slit 13 bent inwardly forming a knee section 14. The beams B of this construction have their ends and the ends of the knee sections 14 joined by a splice-0r cover plate 16 which may be either welded or riveted to the beams.

The slits in the webs of the members making up the arch may be made by any suitable means such as flame cutting or shearing, and the knee sections may be bent either hot or cold in forming presses or by bending rolls, as desired.

By the use of suitable bending apparatus and the arch members the cost of beam archessuch as described herein may be reduced considerably below that of ordinary trusses. As an example of standard arches, arches from no forty to one hundred feet in width will have the same radii for the bent portions, and arches from one hundred to two hundred feet will have a second radii. Buildings can thus be standardized,

I 5 varying only the depths and weights of the beam sections.

The beam arch of this invention takes the place of a truss, knee braces and column supports. The comparatively few-members of two rafters or 1 beams, two column supports, and a" horiidntal tie member perform the same structuralduties and replace a truss with its many members, two knee braces, and two columns. This beam arch has less weight and is more economical to fabri- 5 cate than the truss construction. The beam arch presents a better appearance and adapts -it self admirably to the architecture and decorative scheme of a hall or auditorium and greater headroom is obtained than possible with trusses due to the elimination of the bottom chord and web systems of truss construction.

The beam arch may be more readily erected due to the fact that there are fewer parts and consequently fewer joints to be made in the field. The construction of the beam truss also lends itself to welding due to the small number and simplicity of the joints.

- Many other advantages resulting from the use of the beam arch of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it will be readily appreciated that this structure may be used wherever an arch is desirable.

While I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of my invention I do not wish to be limited thereto since various modifications may be made without departing from' the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims. 1

I claim: =1. An arch supporting structure composed of standard rolled H-sections, said structure comprising one-piece column members at each end and one-piece beam membersextending between and connecting said cblumns, said beam members being inclined upwardly from each column and joined midway between said columns, said columns and said beam members having their webs slit-longitudinally from their abutting ends for a material distance and having the inner portions 50. of their web and inner flanges bent inwardly to provide the necessarysection to take care of the moment adjacent the point of juncture of the columns and beams, and means cooperating with the columns for resisting the thrust of the arch.

Anarch supporting structure comprising connecting said columns, said beam members juncture of the columns and beams, and said beams also having webs slit longitudinally from their abutting ends for a material distance and having the inner portion of their web and inner flanges paralleling said last named slit bent inwardly to provide the necessary section to take care of the moment adjacent the point of juncture of said beams.

3. An arch supporting structure comprising single one-piece rolled flanged structural column members at each end and one-piece rolled flanged structural beam members extending between and being inclined upwardly from each column and joined midway between said columns, said columns and said beam members having their webs slit longitudinally from their abutting ends for a material distance and having the inner portions of their web and inner flanges bent inwardly to form a knee portion and provide the necessary section to take care of the moment adjacent the point of juncture of the columns and beams, and said beams also having webs slit longitudinally from their abutting ends for a material distance and having the inner portion of their web and inner flanges paralleling said last named slit bent inwardly to provide the necessary section to take care of the moment adjacent the point of 1 5 juncture of said beams.

4. A supporting structure composed of a standard rolled .H-section, such structure comprising one-piece column members at each end and onepiece beam members extending between and connecting said columns, said column and said beam members having their Webs split longitudinally from their abutting ends for a material distance and having the inner portions of their web and inner flanges bent inwardly to provide the necessary section to take care of the moment adjacent the point of juncture of the columns and beams. and anchoring means for said columns.

HUGO A. n. ABT. 

